High damage
live scene music business
Watson was arrested in Orlando in May 2022 after a federal grand jury in Dallas indicted him for his involvement in the Southfork Music Festival near Dallas between 2016 and 2020. The Orlando Music Festival, scheduled for July 4, 2022, has therefore been canceled.
Fraud plan in Texas
Between 2016 and 2020, Watson defrauded several people in Texas, posing as a successful concert promoter and seeking investors to provide him with money to stage concerts, including alleged concerts at Southfork Ranch in Plano, Texas.
According to Attorney General Damien M. Diggs Watson put pressure on investors to provide more and more money, otherwise they would lose all of their investments. In doing so, Watson defrauded investors of approximately 3 million US dollars.
During their investigation, prosecutors discovered that Watson had not used the money to organize concerts, but had instead made large cash withdrawals.
Watson pleaded guilty in May 2023 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison on June 20, 2024.
No blank slate
Watson was previously charged with fraud in 2002 in connection with the Sacramento Jazz Festival sentencedIn 2011, he was again charged with fraud in Houston and convicted while still on probation.
For his crimes in Sacramento and Houston, Watson served a total of more than five years in prison.
